InVivo Therapeutics, a company focused on the development of technologies for the treatment of spinal cord injuries (SCI), along with leading spinal cord injury research center The University of Miami Miller School of Medicine’s Miami Project to Cure Paralysis, today announced their strategic research collaboration for the development of novel SCI treatments.

“We see significant potential in the natural synergies from combining these treatment approaches, both of which have been validated in preclinical studies. The Miami Project team looks forward to elucidating their potential and to working with InVivo toward our common goal of finding new and better treatments for spinal cord injury,” W. Dalton Dietrich, III, Ph.D., scientific director of The Miami Project stated in the press release.

The partnership will evaluate InVivo’s biopolymer devices integrated with cellular therapies, including The Miami Project’s Schwann cell technologies. As part of the research collaboration agreement, InVivo and the Miami Project will research in vitro and in vivo studies with combinations of biomaterials, Schwann cells, and other cellular therapies and drugs; form joint ownership of resulting intellectual property; and have right of first offer for InVivo to license and commercialize on a worldwide exclusive basis.

“We are very pleased to form this partnership with InVivo Therapeutics and look forward to evaluating its innovative biopolymer scaffolding device,” Marc Buoniconti, president of the Miami Project stated. ”We have been working on the problem of SCI for more than 25 years and look forward to exploring another promising avenue in our quest to address the enduring need for effective treatment options. The InVivo team shares our passion and personal commitment to finding new solutions to the challenges of spinal cord injury and paralysis.”

The deal will enable InVivo to extend its technologies deeper into the market, providing the company “tremendous opportunity” for its technology platform.

“To date, InVivo has been focused primarily on acute spinal cord injury research, and this partnership, which comes shortly before we file an Investigational Device Exemption for our first acute technology, will allow us to advance these technologies to the chronic spinal cord injury population with the Miami Project. …” said Frank Reynolds, CEO of InVivo.

Since Schwann cells are an important part of the peripheral nervous system, the cells are an integral component of The Miami Project’s research strategy. The Miami Project has completed preclinical studies and said it plans to file an Investigational New Drug (IND) application for a phase 1 human study using Schwann cells with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration this year.